KANSAS
CITY
Ron Parker
Jersey , Mo. (AP) ¡ª Patrick Mahomes will always have some special TV
footage of the Kansas City Chiefs celebrating his record-setting touchdown pass
in a win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.That¡¯s because Tyreek Hill was the
one recording it.Mahomes threw for 249 yards with two TD strikes to Hill, but it
was the second one that sent the Chiefs¡¯ first-year starter past Hall of Famer
Len Dawson for the single-season TD record. It was the 31st for Mahomes ¡ª with
six games yet to play ¡ª and it helped lift Kansas City to a 26-14 victory over
the Cardinals and another game closer to the No. 1 seed in the playoffs.Hill
celebrated the score by leaping into the stands, then commandeering the CBS
camera ¡ª earning him an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty from the officials and a
sharp rebuke from coach Andy Reid.¡°The celebration just came into my head,¡± Hill
said. ¡°For him to come in and do that, that¡¯s amazing, man. People doubted him ¡ª
¡®He wasn¡¯t going to do this, he wasn¡¯t going to do that.¡¯ I¡¯m proud of him.¡±Hill
had seven catches for 117 yards. Kareem Hunt pounded his way for 71 yards
rushing. The defense came up with five sacks and two picks. And the Chiefs¡¯
special teams were nearly perfect, helping to keep the Cardinals (2-7) winless
in six meetings at Arrowhead Stadium.¡°It was definitely a grind out there,¡± Hunt
said, ¡°and definitely a team that was trying to come up big in a big-time win to
get their program back on track, but most importantly we got the win.¡± Josh
Rosen had 195 yards passing with a touchdown, but two interceptions and several
brutal hits in the fourth quarter no doubt left a lasting impression. David
Johnson ran for 98 yards with TDs on the ground and through the air, while Larry
Fitzgerald had six catches for 50 yards and passed Terrell Owens for No. 2 on
the NFL¡¯s career receiving yardage list in the closing minutes.Fitzgerald has
15,952 yards in 15-year career, trailing only Hall of Famer Jerry Rice.¡°I¡¯m
pretty close to T.O. His friendship and my relationship with him is valuable to
me. He means a great deal to
me
Tony Gonzalez
Color Rush Jersey ,¡± Fitzgerald said. ¡°It¡¯s frustrating that it comes in
another loss.¡±The Chiefs¡¯ weekly air show got started on the game¡¯s first play,
when Hill ran right past Patrick Peterson to haul in a 38-yard reception. Two
plays later, Hill ran past the rest of the Arizona defense and Mahomes found him
streaking into the end zone for a 37-yard scoring catch.Arizona answered with a
time-consuming 75-yard touchdown drive of its own.Both defenses fared better the
rest of the half, with the Cardinals sacking Mahomes four times and the Chiefs¡¯
rejuvenated defense getting enough pressure to keep Rosen uncomfortable.The
Chiefs finally reached the end zone again when Mahomes zipped a third-and-goal
pass into double coverage to Hill, who cradled it for his quarterback¡¯s
record-setting score. ¡°Listen, he¡¯s had a heck of a year,¡± Reid said of Mahomes,
who was not available after the game because of a family emergency. ¡°He¡¯s played
his heart out and I love the backside of that, how he goes about his business.
He has a lot on his plate as far as responsibility goes to run the offense.¡±As
for Hill¡¯s touchdown celebration?¡°That was too much,¡± Reid said, hiding a smile.
¡°I was not happy.¡±The Cardinals stuck with Johnson in the second half, and they
slowly grinded their way to another touchdown. He carried it six times and
finished a 12-play, 61-yard drive with a TD plunge to get Arizona within 20-14
midway through the third quarter.But after the Cardinals got the ball back early
in the fourth, Rosen had a screen pass picked by Justin Houston at the line of
scrimmage. And instead of marching for a go-ahead TD, the Cardinals watched
Spencer Ware dive in for a touchdown to extend a lead the Chiefs would never
relinquish.¡°Thought the guys fought to the
end
https://www.thechiefsfanshop.com/Christian-Okoye-Jersey ,¡±
Cardinals coach Steve Wilks said. ¡°There are no moral victories in this game.
All credit goes to Kansas City. Well-prepared, good football team.¡±QUOTABLE¡°I
think we did a couple things really well. We¡¯ve just got to duplicate it. Our
opening drives were pretty long and sustainable, and kept our defense off the
field. We had pretty well-timed possessions. A little good nugget here and
there, but some bad things to clean up.¡± ¡ª Rosen.COIN-TOSS LOSSThe Chiefs lost
their first coin toss all season when the Cardinals successfully called tails.
They deferred to the second half, forcing Kansas City to start on offense for
the first time.INJURIESCardinals: WR Chad Williams (ankle), LG Mike Iupati
(back) and DL Robert Nkemdichi (calf) were inactive. ¡ RG Justin Pugh left early
in the second half with a knee injury.Chiefs: WR Sammy Watkins (foot), SS Eric
Berry (heel), LB Frank Zombo (hamstring) and OL Mitch Morse (concussion) were
inactive. ¡ Houston (hamstring) was active for the first time since Oct. 7.UP
NEXTArizona returns home to face the Raiders next Sunday.Kansas City faces the
Rams next Monday night in Mexico City. The Kansas City Chiefs game against the
Los Angeles Rams ¡ª originally scheduled to be played in Mexico City¡¯s Estadio
Azteca this Monday night ¡ª has been moved the Rams home field: the Los Angeles
Coliseum.We thought of five reasons why this is a good thing:1. Lower
altitudeAlthough Chiefs head coach Andy Reid made it clear during his Monday
press conference that the team had made no special plans because the Chiefs were
going to be playing in Estadio Azteca ¡ª which, at 7,280 feet, is a full 2,000
feet higher above sea level than Denver¡¯s Mile High Stadium ¡ª neither team will
have to worry about getting themselves worn out because they are having
difficulty breathing at a high altitude.2. Homelike conditionsThe Chiefs draw
well in the Los Angeles area.Historically, NFL games that are suddenly moved
into different venues are not well-attended.Many Rams fans may now be locked
into traveling to Mexico City and will have to spend their time sightseeing
instead of attending the game.(And yes, there will be Chiefs fans who have the
same problem.Let¡¯s hope everybody gets along while watching the game on TV in
the hotel bar!)So Chiefs fans living in southern California are probably going
to be able to get their hands on tickets ¡ª and hopefully, Chiefs players on the
sideline will be able to hear CHIEFS! at the end of the national anthem.3. Even
more tickets availableWe¡¯ve also learned that the Rams will be giving away
thousands of tickets to first responders and others affected by the terrible
wildfires now taking place in California.So first... kudos to the Rams for this
very nice touch!But it seems likely that many of these tickets will end up on
the secondary market; some who receive them may not be able (or inclined) to use
them.Arrowhead Pride readers in California are advised to beat the bushes
looking for these tickets!4. It demonstrates why Andy Reid is a great coachThe
Rams had hoped to get a leg up on the Chiefs by moving this week¡¯s practices to
the Air Force Academy in Colorado
Springs
Breeland
Speaks Jersey , Colorado, in the hopes that their players could become
acclimatized to a higher altitude before Monday¡¯s game.The Rams arrived in
Colorado on Monday night, and we have now learned that they intend to stay there
through the week.That¡¯s probably their best move at this point.But an even
smarter move might have been to never go there in the first place.Reid made it
clear this week that the Chiefs had carefully considered practicing at a high
altitude location before traveling to Mexico, but had decided against it.¡°We
looked into all that,¡± Reid said on Monday. ¡°We had plenty of time to look at
that. After studying it, we just felt it was best to stay here. We¡¯ll just go
down there and play.¡±This is consistent with Reid¡¯s usual approach: to trust his
process of preparation ¡ª to establish a routine of preparing for games, and
stick with it as much as is possible.Each week ¡ª in response to questions about
preparations for an upcoming game ¡ª he re-emphasizes this point.The Rams will go
into Monday¡¯s game missing at least a full day of preparation ¡ª perhaps even
more ¡ª because of the distraction of traveling to and from Colorado.Meanwhile,
Reid and his team have gone about their business as usual and will be fully
prepared.Advantage: Chiefs.There were some pundits (and fans) who have been
critical of Reid this week for not moving the team¡¯s operations to a higher
altitude.But right now, the Chiefs head coach looks like a genius. 5. A chance
to even up the recordThe Kansas City Chiefs franchise has played 14 games in the
Los Angeles Coliseum. The first was when the Dallas Texans played against the
Los Angeles Chargers in September 1960. The last was against the Los Angeles
Raiders almost 25 years ago ¡ª on Christmas Eve in 1994.The Chiefs have never
played a Monday Night Football game in the Coliseum, and have only played one
game there against a team outside of their own conference.It was against Vince
Lombardi¡¯s Green Bay Packers on January 15, 1967.At the time, it was billed as
the AFL-NFL Championship Game, but today we know it as Super Bowl I.The Packers
won that game, 35-10.In this second-ever matchup with a non-conference team in
the Coliseum ¡ª which for weeks has been billed as a preview of Super Bowl LIII ¡ª
wouldn¡¯t it be nice to even the score?